Dominic Cummings is no angel and no hero whistleblower. But a lot of what he says is true and if you go back on this forum and other discussion forums in this website you will find that the accusations he made ring true:
- There were very clear indications in January that this pandemic is coming our way and that when it came it would be relentless with exponential growth in numbers. the 6 weeks of grace we had were completely squandered. Despite reassurances that we were prepared, we were not. There were no plans, no supplies of PPE and no contingencies to ensure supplies of vital material.
- Dominic Cummings stated that there were no plans to deal with pandemics and states that even now there are no plans to deal with major catastrophes. These are events that have to be planned for in detail and in advance and frequently rehearsed and updated. There were none.
- It was very surprising that many weeks were lost in careful instructions about washing hands and a protracted debate about whether face masks will help was then used as a coverup for the lack of PPE. It is a no brainer that the best way of reducing spread of a respiratory virus is to wear masks. Even if this is not scientifically proven for this virus, it really does no harm to wear them, but of course the controversy was created because the government couldn’t even supply these.
- The chaos he describes was vey real especially between mid march and onwards. Pronouncements were being made without any basis. Even co-ordination with supermarkets to ensure supplies of common goods and of hand wash and sanitizers were not made. No mechanisms to prevent hoarding or other antisocial or panic driven actions was made.
- The government has no civic defense plan. If this was a war, the enemy would have taken Whitehall with not a single shot fired. In a major health emergency a civic defense plan which should include commandeering of resources and work force for the common good should have been made. Instead of furlough, many could have been salaried in the common cause to deliver whatever is needed. This would also have included supervision of isolation, provision of care for those who are in need of self isolation and possibly also proper quarantine rather than self-isolation.
- Herd immunity is what the government thought of, and when there was an outcry they renamed it but continued with the policy stealthily.
- Many lies were made and it was clear that they were lies at the time. The care homes slaughter rests squarely on the heads of those who did not provide testing of those discharged from patients and those who took the decisions not to do.
- The disorganized test and trace, not properly functional to this day, was late in introduction.
And so on. But you know what. The Tories will rally around the leader described by his ex chief advisor as not fit for the job, and with their majority and the total ineffectiveness of the opposition, nothing will happen. The enquiry when it eventually happens after a kick in the long grass, will be a whitewash and the government will be exonerated on the basis that these were ‘unprecedented’ events which no one could have forecast.